We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Troy Hines. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Troy below.
Troy , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I knew that creativity was something I was passionate about at a very young age! My favorite classes in school were Art, Language Arts, Photography, and Personal Fitness. Which are all passions that still carry the same weight & importance in present day as they did during my childhood! I always knew since grade school that I wanted to use my gift of creativity to make a living. Art & creativity is something’s that’s so versatile & full of possibilities, and multiple paths are possible. I could design clothes, posters, event flyers, cover arts, and many other things. I love art because it’s everyday life. Food, cars, trees, mountains, and even sunsets are art. It’s such a unique thing & gives me the freedom to create & my mind is always wandering off coming off with different ideas that pertain to art. I love bringing an idea to life in physical form that I envisioned in my head. I also enjoy showing & receiving feedback from others on ideas & projects.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
I I originally moved to Las Vegas to pursue an active career, however, along the process Covid happened. It was recommended to me that I should pursue our career in modeling to try and get my foot in the door for acting. I already had a passion for Shoe collecting in fashion, so I was thrilled at the idea. I began to be developed a passion for photography in fashion as I got better with progress my brother Michael was my personal camera man and we go all over the different parks and any kind of place you can think of that was like a nice background for photography a photo shoot, we’d go! I begin to get more recognition for it and I’m like we might have something here and I was like which route should I go with it during Covid photography was one of my high points because it was an escape it took me back to being in high school and having photography class and learning in and out. I combined that passion with my shoe collecting passion, and it was the recipe for success.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Yes there is! I’m actually at a bit of a crossroads at the moment. I’m torn between going to acting school or going back to professional wrestling school. prior to moving to Vegas, I was pursuing a career as a pro wrestler in my home state of Virginia. At the time I was 19 years old and I wasn’t as disciplined or motivated as I should’ve been. Due to those reasons and also not being able to afford the cost of the school tuition, I ended up quitting. A couple years after this I moved to Las Vegas and I finally did my New Year’s resolution of joining the gym. I stayed consistent and disciplined and eventually got the results I wanted. This is when I started to get the idea of maybe going back to wrestling school. It wasn’t until my brother Tyrique surprise me for my birthday with wrestlemania tickets that I really considered the idea on a serious matter. Going to the event and experiencing it live gave me the ambition to one pursue it again that I had when I was a kid! For the past seven years, I’ve been consistent and staying in shape and I’m constantly traveling flying on an airplane. I thought to myself I’m already doing everything that I’d be doing if I was a pro wrestler and I ask God to lead me in the right direction for my future. Something just kept saying to me go back to pro wrestling school. So now here I am in this new year and I’m really thinking that that’s the right I’m gonna go! Creativity is a major part of professional wrestling! Fitness and being in shape, also is important. I’m a lot more disciplined & and have a better understanding of life and the power of manifestation that I did as a 19-year-old when I originally tried to pursue this dream. I’m excited for this journey & I’m gonna trust God & the process!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Yes! I built my following on on Instagram through sneaker and fashion culture! I’m also a member of a Shoe group on Instagram by the name of @thesolefirm. This group got me a lot of exposure and helped my following grow! I unfortunately lost my original Instagram page and the progress I had made! I’m currently on my second Instagram and also still a member of the sole firm! Which is a group of sneaker collectors like myself who take super creative sneaker pictures & has a following of over 100,000 followers. My second Instagram is currently in his building process and I’m enjoying the journey. The advice I would give is to always network and stay humble.! You can find my instagram under the handle @tuffmoneytroyy
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Tuffmoneytroyy
- Facebook: Troy Hines
- Other: TikTok- tuffmoneytroy
Image Credits
Troy Hines
Michael Hines